All Eyes on College Basketball, Champ Week has Arrived

An in-depth preview of the CBB week ahead

Callum McNamara, Contributor • March 5, 2025

Photo from Justin Casterline via Getty Images

With March Madness around the corner, a new week means a new AP poll for both men’s and women’s college basketball. With the men’s side heading into the final stretch of the last week in the regular season, the women’s side prepares for conference tournaments. Here are the updated rankings, WBB conference tournaments, final week matchups, and news from last week’s thrilling games.

New Rivalry in the SEC, Sooners stray away from Oweh

On Wednesday of last week, No. 17 Kentucky traveled to Oklahoma for an intense matchup. Otega Oweh, Kentucky’s leading scorer, played his previous two seasons at Oklahoma. An anticipated game with former teammates/friends guarding each other, picking up full-court did not disappoint.

Oklahoma was a bubble team at the time and looking to secure a huge win for their resume and boost the chances of them making the tournament. Otega Oweh had other plans for that. Oweh, being the Cats’ leading scorer, has scored 10+ points in every game this season but one before the Wednesday game. It was a back-and-forth affair throughout the game and down the stretch.

Oweh led the Cats in the second half with 23 points, finishing with a career-high 28. It could not have been more perfect returning to Oklahoma as a former player for Oweh to have the game-winning basket. Oweh scored the last 18 points for Kentucky to grind out a win, including a handful of tough layups. A crazy over-the-head shot pushed the win in Kentucky’s favor, 83-82.

Kentucky was also helped by former Oklahoma State player Brandon Garrison, who has a previous hatred towards the Sooners being a former Cowboy. Garrison provided 12 points, four rebounds, three steals, three blocks and many occasions of trash-talking. A scuffle occurred after the game with a bunch of jawing and talking, we could see a potential new rivalry in the SEC now with the Sooners and the Wildcats.

Madness is upon us

On the men’s side, many crazy and wild things happened last week. From buzzer-beaters to turning around a program and winning your regular season title. Here are some of the eventful storylines that occurred.

Last week provided a handful of intense matchups with a few resulting in buzzer-beaters. On Wednesday, eighth-ranked Michigan State visited No. 16 Maryland in a low-scoring Big Ten battle. Ja’Kobi Gillespie sank two free throws which tied the game up at 55 with 42 seconds left.

The Spartans came down the floor and had a great chance to take the lead but it was no good. No timeouts, Gillespie dribbled the ball up the floor after grabbing the rebound with eight seconds left, decided to pull up from three to be the hero and missed the shot. Jaxon Kohler secured the rebound with 2.7 seconds left and handed it off to Tre Holloman. Holloman took his next few steps and sank the game-winning half-court buzzer-beater.

The next day, cross-town rival No. 15 Michigan hosted Rutgers which resulted in another game-winning three. Tyson Acuff for Rutger had made two free throws with 12 seconds left, putting the Scarlet Knights up one. Rutgers took a timeout with three seconds left but it was enough time for Michigan to do what’s next. Nimari Burnett swished a deep left-wing three with time ticking down to earn the Wolverines a win.

Lastly, a top ten matchup in the SEC pitted Alabama and Tennessee together, two heavyweights battling it out for forty minutes. Alabama being the best offensive team in the country and Tennessee having the third best defense was one to watch. After Bama’s Labaron Philon made 1/2 at the line, Bama led by four with 36 seconds left. Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier quickly got a two-point basket to trim the lead to two. Lanier was fouled but eventually missed the free throw.

Jahmai Mashack sank two free throws for Tennessee to even the game at 76. Mashack would become the hero for Volunteer fans across the world sinking a long three to win the game after Tennessee locked up the Crimson Tide, forcing a turnover on a five-second violation.

Kings of the regular season

After a 73-64 win against Cincinnati on Saturday, Houston won its second straight Big 12 regular season title. All kinds of records follow that for Cougars who are on an eight-game winning streak and have won 13 straight road games in the gauntlet, which is the Big 12. Kelvin Sampson and company have posted a 25-4 record, earning the top spot in the upcoming conference tournament. Houston closes out their season with a home game against Kansas and a road trip against Baylor.

In the gruesome SEC, Auburn comes out on top as they clinch the regular season title after Tennessee shocks Alabama with a buzzer-beater win. Auburn has clinched the top seed in the conference tournament but still has two very difficult games left on their schedule. They look to be the top seed overall in March Madness so the job is not finished for the Tigers. Auburn finishes on the road against Texas A&M and at home in the jungle against Alabama, two top-25 matchups.

The Rick Pitino rebuild is upon us at St. John’s, beating Seton Hall to be crowned regular season champions of the Big East. The Red Storm captured its first outright title in 40 years, earning the top spot in the upcoming conference tournament. St. John’s finishes the season with a tough last game at Marquette, another top-25 showdown.

College Basketball’s farewell to the regular season

With a week to go until Champ Week, teams around the country look to finish off the regular season with resume boosters, while for others it is win or go home.

Two top-25 matchups headlined Tuesday’s action with top-ranked Auburn visiting No. 22 Texas A&M, the Aggies looking to get back on track after dropping the last two games. Texas A&M didn’t back down from the challenge and secured their first win against AP No.1, previous 0-9. Although a loss doesn’t hurt Auburn’s seeding for anything in the SEC, the eleven-point loss showed some flaws the Tigers have.

In the Big 12, No. 23 BYU faced No. 10 Iowa State with tournament seeding on the line. Both sit at a 12-6 record in conference play and are battling for the last double-bye. BYU came into Ames and took over, beating Iowa State in a great overtime game. The Cougars now have the 4 seed in the tournament and a double-bye.

Madness in the desert occurred in the Arizona State-Arizona game last night. A late tip resulted in one of the best games of the season. The previous meeting had some heated arguments between both teams, but last night was all offense. Combining for 213 points, No. 24 Arizona won 113-100.

On Wednesday, No. 13 Maryland heads to Ann Arbor to play No. 17 Michigan. Each team is trying to prove themselves as the biggest threat to Michigan State in the tournament. Alabama starts its gruesome stretch of the final week by hosting fifth-ranked Florida, who is fighting for the second seed in the SEC.

Saturday is when you want to cancel all plans and enjoy watching basketball on your couch. No. 19 Kentucky vs. No. 15 Missouri, Sixth-ranked St. John’s takes on No. 20 Marquette, No. 7 Alabama faces a road battle against No. 1 Auburn and finally ends the night with the best rivalry in college basketball #2 Duke vs. North Carolina.

This week is where bubble teams need to survive and advance. Some teams to keep an eye on this week are Baylor, who, as of Mar. 3 is one of the last four in, Oklahoma, on the first four out, North Carolina, with a big game that could change their whole season. Many other teams you can watch who are on the bubble, you can go to ESPN for their bracketology updated weekly.

WBB meets Champ Week

The regular season of women’s basketball has ended with amazing games highlighting the concluding days, now it gets into the fun part. The start of conference tournaments begins this week with teams looking to stand their ground and breeze through their conference, while others look in or look out, and prepare to make history.

In the ACC, Notre Dame and NC State both clinched a share of the regular season title, but the Wolfpack got the first seed in the conference. tournament because of their win over the Irish. Notre Dame enters the conference tournament as defending champions, beating NC State in the final last year. Another meeting this year could have the potential of a new rivalry brewing.

The SEC came down to the last possible decision for the top seed, a coin flip. Both Texas and South Carolina clinched a share of the regular season title, finishing 15-1 and losing to each other. At halftime of another game, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey decided on the last resort to figure out who would be the #1 seed in the conference. tournament. A coin flip favored South Carolina and earned them the top seed. LSU earned the third seed but with a cost, leading scorer Flau’Jae Johnson will miss the SEC tournament with a shin injury. Johnson averages 18.9 points a game.

USC clinched the Big Ten regular-season title with an impressive road win over UCLA. JuJu Watkins scored 30 points in a heated battle between two potential one seeds was the difference maker. The guard guided the Trojans to their first regular season title since 1994.

An impressive offseason with outstanding acquisitions from the transfer portal led TCU to their first regular season title in the Big 12. They beat Baylor twice during the season, including on Sunday, headlined by Sedona Prince’s double-double. The Horned Frogs’ first win against Baylor in the season was the program’s first in 35 years.

The Richmond Spider earned their second straight regular season title, earning the top seed in the A-10 tournament. Winning sixteen games in a row, not losing a game since January 2nd, helped the Spiders receive the double-bye.

UConn once again asserts dominance in the Big East, winning the regular season title. Earning the top seed and going 17-0 against the Big East in Bueckers’ final season as a Husky.

Champ Week 2025 is here for WBB, running through the next weeks into Selection Sunday on the 16th. Important tournaments to look out for are listed below with dates, teams expected to win and a handful of bubble teams looking to make some noise.

ACC Tournament – March 5th-9th

- Favored teams: Notre Dame, NC State, North Carolina, Florida State
- Bubble teams: Virginia Tech, Stanford

SEC Tournament – March 5th-9th
- Favored teams: Texas, South Carolina, LSU, Kentucky
Big Ten Tournament – March 5th-9th
- Favored teams: USC, UCLA, Ohio State
- Bubble teams: Indiana, Washington, Nebraska, Minnesota, Oregon